Pheonix Feather
by Book-Guardian
Summary: She had a terrible curse locked inside of her that was powerful enought to eradicate an entire race. He was the ruler of all that was dark.SS,ET
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Card Captor Sakura and the first to cheer up my spirit will be force-fed poison…

A/N: This will be my second fic…please review…

A Brain is like a sharp knife…use it for good and it will never fail you 

_Use it for bad…and it will be the architect of your demise…_

_By: A friend from School…_

Chapter 1: Dark Power

By:Book-Guardian and her very secretive muse that lives in a

Cardboard box up in the attic…

Darkness was a strange thing…when you thought of darkness, sitting on your comfy couch, beside a large fire filled with dancing flames, you usually came to consider…what the hell, why would anyone ever go into the darkness…into the _evil_ side…into something that would eventually destroy you…why would anyone be tempted like that…it was just so stupid. But when you actually feel the ice cold darkness in your skin, feel it crawling through your spine like a snake lunging for its prey…you had a very different opinion about darkness—you find it, all of a sudden, very appealing and your brain stops working and you suddenly want to make it out alive…

Darkness was like an envelope always ready for its next victim. The choice is always there…the circumstances aren't. When you feel pulled into the darkness, you gain new strength---powerful yes but uncontrollable. The strength is too strong to be stopped and lust for more appears without one's consent.

But the funny thing is, there is always someone who is ready to fight it—fight the dangerous temptation of the darkness—fight the ones who have already been tempted, the ones who are ready to lung out for more power. There is always someone who stopped it or has the skill to do it—there always had been that person who could do so.

That was _her_ life…nothing more than bloodshed, darkness, and battles with the already tempted ones that were tainted with shadows. That was what she was meant to do—born to do. Many a times, she would wonder what would have happened if she weren't who she was—what she was--if she weren't _selected_.

Obviously, that would have been life. Now she was just as isolated as she was supposed to be.

Here she was, waiting for that thing to come out so she could kill it. She batted her eyelashes—seeing darkness in one vision and the deserted alley streets beside a graveyard in another. These creatures were despicable. They fought with no honour—they never slept and they never died. Speaking of sleep, she sighed—knowing that nothing could be seen on her face since she was well hidden behind the shadows—she _wanted_ to sleep. Why couldn't she just come back tomorrow night? No, many could be slaughtered that night if she was stupid to go to bed. Suddenly she snapped out of her daze.

They were coming. She readied herself, straining her ears to hear them. There weren't more than five of them; she could sense that—piece of cake. She hid herself well in the alley corner waiting for them to come a good distance. Her long slender fingers encompassed around something and she took it out of her leather belt-pockets, flinging it into air before catching it with grace that a normal human wouldn't have mastered up. She smirked—it had taken months of lessons from his good-natured over-protective brother to learn that and she was not going to let it drop.

The footsteps were getting faster, or at least one of them was. She sneered--_so_ they were following someone, all the more for her to satisfy herself with more than one killing—perfect. The fast-paced footsteps suddenly stopped as a loud thud was heard—someone had tripped—possibly the victim.

" Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you," a honey-laced voice said mockingly.

" Yeah, Ted here is right…we just want to taste your soul, is all, you smelled so good in the mall…we couldn't help following you…but we'll share alright…"another voice said.

She felt her blood boil…she hated them…hated those scoundrels. They always manipulated the weak. She decided it was time to act—time to fight.

" Alright…now let's feast shall we?" the man called Ted spoke, his face changing into a hideous feature as he did so.

She was used to this—since the first time, she was pretty used to demonic faces—after all, she fought them didn't she…the victim was a female teenager who looked white with fear and was whimpering uncontrollably. She stepped out.

" Why don't you ever pick on someone your own skill…oops, sorry, that can't be me, can it?" A woman stepped out of the shadows. The wind blew across her face swaying her auburn hair towards its course. The woman had startling emerald-green eyes that had lost all its warmth and was now just two cold-green orbs. Her hands were in her belt-pockets ready to take out the weapons. Her lips were put up in a smirk while she battled her way not to laugh cruelly.

" And what's a pretty little girl like you doing on the streets?" One of the men said scornfully.

" Don't complain Mike…" Ted said, " all the better for us…we drink two at the price of one…"

She smiled. The female victim meanwhile was so terrified, she was sweating and her face was becoming chalk-white and she had long ceased whimpering. Now she seemed to have adapted silence as if waiting for her death to just come. She smiled. They should teach women self-defense.

" Go," she said to the victim calmly, " and don't come back here…"

The woman was more than glad to carry out the orders as she ran out of the streets finally screaming when she was far away. She smirked again and turned to look at the five vampires. They looked pretty strong but then again, looks can sometimes be so scarily deceiving.

" Now," she said fearlessly, " where were we…oh, yeah…I will give you thirty seconds to run fast and if you are lucky you might even get away…then, you will die…"

" You hear, Ted…this girl wants to kill us…how pathetic…at least we can all feed on her…telling us to run, is she…who are you?"

" Your death…in other words…your Cleaning day is here…" She replied again smiling.

The demons seemed to have underestimated her as they lunged for her, some changing their faces into their true forms. She smiled—it would be their death, not hers…she had warned them…they didn't listen, whose fault was that? She jumped gracefully in the air and took out two carefully designed wooden stakes. They were sharp. She sprung right at them kicking one of them right in the chest with unimaginable skill as she did a front somersault and kicked another one right in the face. They both flew right towards the tree. The female fighter sent both her stakes right at their hearts and staked them from air. She smirked in surprise. She _was_ getting better. The three other demons were right behind her. This time, she did a backwards somersaults, then a series of cartwheels and staked two of them.

The last remaining demon was whimpering, much like his victim. But he was obstinate and remained fighting punching the young fighter who in turn was blocking every one of them with yielding poise. Soon, she pined the vampire to a nearby tree and said, " You…are a Life Eater…aren't you?

" No…I…don't know…what you—" The fighter had just brought her stakes closer to him.

" You are among the most despicable race in this world…you are a Life Eater—someone who drinks not blood but souls and life and…I must kill you… you asked me who I was? Well, then…I am—"

" –-You can't be a slayer, you just can't be…" the vampire muttered fearfully, " she was killed just a few days ago, you couldn't have mastered moves like that in a few days and—"

" I am not a slayer," the woman said irritated as to why the vampire was talking so much when he was about to be dusted within seconds, " I am the Eradicator and one—"

" YOU CAN"T BE…YOU MUSN"T BE…the Eradicator died one thousand years ago…you couldn't have been reincarnated…could you?" The woman merely stared at the vampire wondering what on hell he talking about.

"—but that explains your advanced skills and your strength and your ravishing beauty and also why the Night Lord who is looking for—" Whoosh, he was dusted. The woman stared at the place where the vampire once was… _The_ _Night lord_? That name somehow struck something in her mind as something hot and cold at the same time overwhelmed her…the woman shrugged. Let that vampire thingy come…she could kill it.

She turned to walk when something else caught her eye. She turned around elegantly and took out her stakes. She faced the darkness of the alley. Something wasn't right. Something just wasn't—the wind suddenly blew swiftly warning her of danger. She quickly took something else out of her pocket.

" Windy," the woman said lazily, " I command you to tell me if there is danger…" The woman took out what seemed like a tarot card but more olden and somehow more pleasing to the eye. On the card was a picture of a woman with wings across her chest. The rest of her body wasn't there. As she grasped hold of those words, the card shot out of her hair twirling around a few feet off the ground and with a burst of golden energy, a spirit much like the image on the card shot out and nodded, closing her eyes as she muttered.

The woman, on the ground waited. Within mere seconds, Windy had opened her eyes and had pointed towards the alley calmly. She then dissolved in the air and returned to her card. The woman moved towards the alley stealthily. Then, all of a sudden, something was growling like a dog or a wolf. The woman tightened her grip on her stakes as she entered the alley. She couldn't sense a Life-Eater but something was there.

Then she saw it. Two pairs of red eyes glowed in the dark as a vague shape of an animal came into view. As soon it saw it, it leapt away. The woman wanted to follow but decided it was better to deal with it the next night. Her body was aching.

_Ding Dong_…she rang the bell of her house. This just seemed so weird. Wasn't _she_ supposed to be opening the door instead? Speaking of the door, it had just opened revealing a raven-haired woman with beautiful amethyst eyes who looked thoroughly disheveled.

" Oh, Sakura…we have been so worried for you—I mean usually, you hardly take that long and you didn't come for two hours, so we got kind of scared and Chelsea, Nikki and Rita started doing Tracking spells to find you…oh, thank goodness, you are alright…" she hugged the waiting girl named Sakura who raised her eyebrows.

" Uh, Tomoyo…can I please come in…into my own house?" Sakura said amusedly.

Tomoyo blinked before she understood, " oh, yeah, sorry about that…"

Sakura went inside her house closing the door and locking it shut. She opened her jacket and went into the living room where she was met with a very strange sight…

Four people were there sitting inside a pentacle with two huge circles along it. There was a lot of dust and gray ash that seemed to be from a graveyard. There were five small circles on which sat four people—one person was missing (probably Tomoyo, since she went to get the door) all looking so dusty, Sakura had an instant mental image of dust bunnies.

" Uh, Tomoyo…" Sakura asked, " Why did you invite demons into my house?"

" They are not demons…they live here, Sakura…"

Sakura looked at them. Then suddenly realization dawned on her.

" Oh, it's you…honestly Chelsea…when doing a spell, could you _try not_ to attract so much dust, I mean, I am the Eradicator and a bank accountant _and_ a Clow conjurer. I really don't want to be the maid of my own house as well…"

" Me?" said a very surprised voice as her hands wove to clean the dust off the entire room. The whole room was cleaned and dust-free within a minute.

" Wow, nice trick…teach me how to do it some time…" Tomoyo uttered looking at the den in awe.

" Anyways…" Chelsea, a brown eyed and petite girl with a strange hair sense (her hair was put up like two croissants) and shy attitude spoke, "…I did not set the room on dust…I mean Nikki was the one who decided we should do a tracking spell and—"

" Exactly," said a very thin looking girl with huge glasses, " I said to do a tracking spell—Chelsea—a _tracking _spell—not a Earth spell like you did…" she looked pretty worn out as did the other people.

" Yeah but—" Chelsea began determined to win this argument.

" Oh, please…you guys…" another voice said as she got up from her circle in the pentacle, " can we not do this now?"

" Yeah," the last voice spoke which was surprisingly full of meaning and matured, " Rita is right…Sakura just came back from hunting…let's try not hurting her mood…"

They all quieted down as Rita, a shorthaired and shy looking girl, snapped her fingers to vanish the chalk-drawn pentacle.

Sakura smiled. This was her family—her home, ever since _that_ _day,_ they were her family—Tomoyo: her best friend and first cousin, Rita, Chelsea and Nikki: the closest friends she had ever had…Tomoyo, and the three triplets (or as she liked to call the three friends) were all wiccas—powerful witches from the Pectus Dynasty and very useful. The matured woman was Kaho Mizuki—her Watcher. She was probably the only one in the house that understood exactly how it felt killing the dark, getting tempted, looking at blood.

"Guess what, Sakura?" Tomoyo said excitedly. Sakura tried not to groan and wished that Tomoyo would not say anything about—

" I made you a new battle dress, you want to--"

" NO, Tomoyo, but thank you…" Sakura said before Tomoyo had a chance to finish what she was saying. Honestly, that woman could sometimes be scarily cheerful. Sakura looked down at herself; today she was wearing one of Tomoyo's most uncomfortable but useful battle gear. She wore a tight leather pair of shorts that were unusually short and a dark colored T-shirt (Life-Eaters are attracted to bright colours) that barely met her shorts and a leather jacket on top of that.

" We bought Chinese food today, all our favorites…" Rita said, "…but, uh, we already finished our dinner…you don't mind…do you, Sakura?"

" No, that's fine…" Sakura said dropping all her weapons into a large chest that looked as though one good punch could easily destroy it. Sakura and her friends went into the dining room where Sakura's food was already laid down. Sakura licked her lips—that smelled really good.

" So, Sakura…" Kaho said pulling out one of the dining chairs, " anything new happen today…"

" No, not really," Sakura said wolfing down on her dinner, " a few Life-Eaters attacking a woman who was foolishly wearing a red silk dress…me come to the rescue…dust all of the Life-Eaters but the last one was really talkative…kept talking about some Night lord and—"

_Clunk_. Tomoyo dropped the spoon she was serving Sakura with and hardly seemed concerned to retrieve it from the floor. Kaho looked at Sakura as though she had uttered a very disgusting swear word and Chelsea, Rita and Nikki were all whispering in hushed voices with Rita's hand on top of her mouth.

" What did you say?" whispered Tomoyo.

Sakura raised her eyebrows. This was a little weird, " I said I dusted the Life-Eater and—"

" No, not _that_, what did you say after that?" Kaho said impatiently.

Sakura recalled back and then it hit her.

" I said the Night lord--, " Sakura ignored the flinched looks her friends were giving her, " honestly, what's wrong with you…"

" Do you know who he is, " then, ignoring Sakura's clueless face, Kaho sighed and went on, " he is the most powerful of all Life-Eaters and vampire kings…and demons and…your power can barely match his…he is called the _Night_ Lord…do you know why…he is fear itself and he has been in almost all the books about demons…demons worship him and he killed so many slayers and—"

" –That's where you are wrong, Kaho…" Sakura said helping herself to more servings, " he has met many slayers and killed them—he has never met the Eradicator—Kaho, for heavens sake, stop looking like the world is about to end, all of you stop looking at me like that! We have met thousands of demons powerful and strong, and I've defeated everyone of them…this one will no different…"

Kaho smiled. So did everyone else.

" Sakura is right," Rita, said, " we will hit the books tomorrow and see what we can found out about this guy alright?"

Tomoyo, Chelsea and Nikki all nodded. Sakura couldn't help grin back.

After a few minutes, Sakura got up from the table and went upstairs. God, this was tiring. Sakura crawled into her bed. Ever since that day when her parents and brother were killed, she had decided never to look back. She had decided that she would not let the tempted ones get to her. She had remembered that day like it had just happened a few hours ago…

She had been alone at home with Touya. She had been thirteen while Touya, twenty. She had been watching television; some really scary movie while her brother had made them sandwiches. Her parents, Aiden and Natasha were not at home. Sakura shuddered as she remembered what had happened next. Touya had been eating his sandwich when suddenly he had dropped it and had started to tell Sakura to run. Sakura, being the oblivious teenager that she was had told off Touya by telling him to stop scaring her. But little had she known how scary it was going to get. Touya had immediately lunged for the door when the balcony door had exploded—the shards of glass flying through the air. Touya had realized, somehow what was happening.

Sakura still thought it as a mystery as to how he found out about demons and Life-eaters. Touya had taken Sakura by her waist and had opened the main door of their house trying to let her not see the sight. But despite that, Sakura had seen it. An image had cast into her mind forever. In the balcony had been three Life-eaters—two holding her pale and unmistakably dead parents while they had lunged for Touya. Touya had suddenly gone haywire and had thrown Sakura out of the main entrance telling her to run. Sakura had then understood. As she had started running, a terrifying scream had echoed in the neighborhood. But Sakura had kept on running.

From that day on, Sakura had decided to master herself, to train her body to endure pain, she had amazingly no difficulty doing that. Her body had seemed to become a killing machine. Everyday, she had practiced in the basement of her first cousin who hadn't been surprised after hearing about Life-Eaters from an extremely terrified Sakura.

Tomoyo had comforted her and told her who she was—what she was…told her, the life that awaited her. She had been given a choice—a brutal and short life of killing the tempted and dark ones or the peaceful life of an orphan in their house. She had chosen the former one. Since then, Sakura had become secluded, killing the demons mercilessly as their growing breed had suddenly lowered. In this process, she had made many enemies, most of them whom were hardly the challenge.

More than half the vampires and demons and Life-Eaters she faced hardly had strength and brains, let alone skill. The only thing she had lacked immensely was the sense of patience. But over the seven years, she had mastered that too. Hardly any time, she met a vampire or demon that possessed skill and extreme amount of strength but again, little brain.

Sakura clearly remembered the day she had met her watcher, an extremely intelligent and former slayer. Kaho Mizuki had been extremely patient with her and even though she was powerful, Sakura knew that her own power could harm her as well. That thought strangely and shamefully comforted Sakura. With the burning hatred that was kindled more by innocent killings of Life-Eaters, Sakura had in three years mastered everything a slayer could do and more. Then one day, Kaho had introduced her to Rita, Chelsea and Nikki who as she had learned along with Tomoyo were powerful witches-in-training.

Then came the day, when Kaho had told her, she was not just a slayer. Her power was that of a hundred slayers. She was the most powerful thing the council had had. Sakura hadn't cared then that she was the Eradicator and amusedly, Sakura still didn't care. Her physical power had been growing immensely and in her fifth year of training, Sakura had discovered her own power, a power very different from physical strength, she had discovered the Clow Cards—a very strong set of powerful cards that had once belonged to some magician that Sakura hadn't cared to learn the name of. Sakura had never even found out the Cards' origin. Her only goal was ridding the world of vermin such as the tempted ones—the vampires, demons etc…

Sakura rolled over. Whatever happened, she would never let anyone destroy her. Sakura silently vowed and quickly fell asleep of endless passages in a dark yet very spacious house.

An animal, perhaps a wolf was leaping from building to building stealthily. It looked very anxious as it growled and bared its teeth out. A full moon hung behind it making it look even more mysterious than intended to be. The wolf lunged down the building and landed gracefully on all fours. It went towards a telephone booth and opened the door. The shadows on the walls were moving but the shadow of the wolf quickly changed into the shadow of a female. The female took hold of the phone and dialed a number.

" Hello, Syaoran?" the female spoke, "Meiling speaking…I found her…she is here…in Tokyo…"

A deep voice could be heard which, could be none other _the_ Syaoran, "_Good_--I am coming…keep a watch on her…"


	2. In The Alleys

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura. Now, leave me alone before I set a Life-Eater on you!

A/N: I want to thank people for reviewing my work…though not a lot did…now on with the story.

_If you fail to plan, you plan to fail._

_By: Anonymous_

Chapter 2: In the Alleys

Sakura stared at them trying desperately not to roll her eyes. They were doing it _again_. Tomoyo, Rita, Nikki and Chelsea were all huddled in the living room with thousands of ancient looking books around them.

" Guys—" Sakura began.

" Sakura," Tomoyo said not really listening to her best friend," don't get mad at us…we have been searching through the books for hours…and it is not our fault if we haven't found a weakness of the Night lord—"

" But—"

"—and we have not even bothered to wake you up…I mean I know it's a Saturday and all and it is afternoon…and—"

" It's _what_?"

"—that every book talks about the defeat of all the things he has ever faced and that he is really cruel…and—"

" Tomoyo, listen to me…" Sakura said, " why the hell didn't you wake me up?"

" Well, it wasn't really her fault…Kaho let you sleep in…" Rita said interrupting, " she said something about deserving it…"

" And besides," Chelsea said, " you _were_ complaining from a few weeks ago that your entire body was aching immensely and Kaho thought it was a really good idea if you gave your body a little rest…"

" What's the time?" Sakura asked annoyed.

" Four-fifteen," Nikki said flatly.

" You should have woken me up guys…I need to train before I go on my usual patrol…" Sakura said urgently as she put her waffles inside the toaster waiting for it to get ready.

" So," Sakura continued on, " who is coming with me tonight?"

" Kaho is…" Nikki said.

Sakura frowned. Kaho hardly went out on a hunt with her.

" And Sakura?" Tomoyo asked concerned, " are you sure you are alright…you are sweating a lot right now and you look sort of pale…do you need us to go on the patrol with you…we can definitely handle a few—"

" No Tomoyo, I'll be fine…" Sakura said unconvincingly. Tomoyo and the triplets hadn't look very convinced. Sakura forced herself a smile. That worked.

" I am going to get changed," Sakura said quickly, " I have to get ready for the hunt…you guys keep searching for the landlord thingy alright?"

" It's Night Lord…" Chelsea said grinning. Sakura grinned back.

" See if I care…" she said cunningly.

Sakura went up the stairs and opened the door to her room. She slumped on her bed and sighed. She couldn't risk telling them the real reason that she was so badly sweating. The real reason was very, very different. The real reason was because of a –dream.

Sakura hadn't really known what her dream meant. But it was downright frightening. She had only seen flashes of it. There had been a man…and a woman…a gleaming knife…a raging fire…a terrifying howl…a thousand voices that spoke like one…and there had been blood…the woman's blood. That was scary but that wasn't why she had been sweating.

The dream had been very vivid and it was so bright that Sakura had actually felt the pain of a searing pain up her body. The pain was unbearable and she had bitten her bed sheet to try and control this pain. She didn't know where her body began or where it ended. Sakura had finally done the only thing she could've done and slapped herself real hard. That had woken her up.

Sakura had been seeing this dream for two weeks now. But today—today it was so much clearer and so much more painful.

Sakura snapped out of her trance. She looked at her clock—5:36. Sakura got up and undressed herself. She locked the door and opened the washroom door. She turned on the shower full speed and felt savage pleasure in feeling the hot water go down her bare shoulders. She examined her cheek where she had slapped herself. It looked really red although Sakura couldn't tell if that was for the fact that she had slapped herself for every single day of the week to wake herself up from the dream, or if that was for the hot, hot water.

Either way, she didn't care. After a few minutes, Sakura turned the water tap off and got out of the washroom in a pink fluffy towel. Sakura went and opened the window feeling the cool breeze make its way through her skin. The sun was setting down and the sky was blood red promising a hard and dangerous night for Sakura. She closed the window and dressed up in khakis and a sleeveless shirt.

"NOOOOOO!" Sakura almost jumped. That sounded like Rita. Sakura stopped drying her hair and went out of her room to see the commotion.

"What's going on?" Kaho asked sharply.

Rita was red from shock. So were Tomoyo, Chelsea and Nikki. They all looked as though they were being boiled.

" What is going on?" Sakura asked looking extremely aggravated. There was a look of worry on everyone's faces.

" OK, is anyone going to tell me or am I-"

" No, Sakura, it's not that…there was a book called Sayonara of Enchantments and—well it is a really powerful book and I thought it might have been useful but—but now I can't find it…" Tomoyo said quivering.

" So? When I go out to patrol tonight, I'll ask some of the Life-Eaters if they know who Nighty Mighty is, alright?" Sakura asked still not getting the reason for so much tension. The sun had already set and Sakura decided it was better to dress up.

She was really glad Tomoyo didn't ask her about the type of battle gear she was going to wear.

" Oh—Sakura, wait I almost forgot…" Tomoyo said getting an intelligent smile on her face.

_So much for forgetting_, Sakura thought to herself. She followed Tomoyo dreading the excitement that was emitting off Tomoyo. God, what was wrong with this woman? She was really, well, _energetic_ and—and so cheerful and—well, it just didn't suit her. Sakura was a very different sort of person.

Unlike most of the slayers, her grades were really good and Sakura wasn't the type to go all dreamy every time a cute guy passed her. She didn't believe in the whole vampire-and-slayer relationships for quite a number of reasons—a) she wasn't a slayer, b) vampires hardly came near her (they would run away if she let even a sight of herself be seen), c) most of her time was cut off by all the work she had to do and the list could unexaggeratedly go on and on.

Her time was extremely packed and Sakura, being the perfectionist in everything that she was always divided her time into three main segments. The first segment was her university courses that she was taking and surprisingly passing with flying colours earning a second rank out of 500 students. How in the world, she got into honor roll was one even Sakura had to think sometimes. She hardly had time to study at all considering the second segment- bank accountant job she did part-time to earn the credits. And then, there was of course the usual patrolling time (third segment) where she protected the city from bid, bad and vicious Life-Eaters.

Sakura sighed again. This was because Tomoyo was taking out an extremely hideous looking thing that Sakura dearly hoped wasn't her battle gear.

" Tomoyo…I don't know how to say this…but—uh—_what—is that_?" Sakura said with the look of deep disgust.

" Oh, your new battle gear!" Tomoyo replied smoothing some of the wrinkles.

Sakura could only stare at the thing Tomoyo was holding. Out of all the clothes Sakura had to wear, she would never have chosen that one but considering the pleading look on Tomoyo's face, Sakura was not going to get her way.

" Uh, yeah—where is the rest of it?" said Sakura with something close to an enraged smirk.

" Sakura, relax…" Kaho said calmly, " I told Tomoyo to make you that battle gear…it helps you stretch more and gives you more flexibility…we call it…"

" Flexibility 3000!" Kaho and Tomoyo said together rather dramatically.

Sakura's actions were something a fly would be addicted to as her mouth was wide open and her mind wondering how a person who she thought to be mature turn so—so immature in the matter of a dress.

Sakura took the battle gear and went upstairs towards her room. She closed the door and began undressing again. Her thoughts began working again. She was never the sort of person who was boy-crazy or a popular person or someone who was cool. She would lie if she said that studying was the most boring thing ever. Sakura loved studying science—strange since at night, science was mocked with the appearance of Life-Eaters. Sakura valued her principles and loved getting everything just right. She was an excellent computer hacker when needed but the thing she liked most about herself was her independence. Her parents gave this house to her since they were considerably wealthy when alive. The house had the twenty year pension already paid so Sakura could live in peace for eight more years before having to worry about it—if she lived that long. Slayers' and Eradicators' life definition was-short and brutal.

Sakura put her pocketed belt on as usual and opened her drawer to take out her specially carved stakes. She looked at herself in the mirror and felt like killing Tomoyo. The battle gear was stretchy all right but it was very, very, very tight. The battle gear was a two-piece. The bottom part was tight and low-cut _and_ obviously black. The material wasn't leather but Sakura suspected it was nylon and to Sakura, the pants looked suspiciously and slightly transparent. But Kaho was right. They were comfortable and—

-Sakura executed a high kick—definitely flexible and stretchy. They were soft too. The top part of the battle gear truly bothered Sakura. The top didn't meet the bottom. In fact, it was far from the bottom. The top was half-sleeve and made of the same material as the bottom but instead of meeting the pants, they were tight and stuck to her upper body making an upside-down U shape right below her chest. The result—her whole front was visible showing off her creamy white skin. Sakura groaned. She could kill Tomoyo later.

Sakura tied her hair into a high messy, ponytail.

" Sakura! We are getting late for the patrol…" Kaho screamed from down the stairs.

" Coming…geez…" Sakura growled in frustration. She could think later.

Within a few minutes, Sakura and Kaho, who wore battle gear ready for fighting, were all out in the streets embracing the air that was coming towards them at incredible speed.

" Getting pretty cold huh?" Kaho said after a few minutes of surprising silence.

" No…sorry—wait, what?" Sakura asked looking perplexed.

" What happened?" Kaho asked looking a little worried, " are you alright…I mean _you_ never zone out on patrols…so it is a little strange…"

Sakura allowed herself a silent snort. Never zoned out? Boy, Kaho knew as much about her patrols as she knew about dating and that was considerably low.

" Nothing, really…" Sakura smiled, " it's just that…well something…just doesn't feel right…that's all…"

Kaho seemed to get overexcited by this, " No, Sakura, it could be anything…we should be ready…"

" Kaho, relax…it's just this really sharp idea and—"

" –-they usually happen to be right…look, Sakura, if you're worried about the Night Lord, then well don't…he is powerful and no matter what the other girls say…we can beat it…I just don't know how yet…"

" Kaho…tell me the truth…" Sakura stared at Kaho. The good thing about Kaho was that her face was like a window to her thoughts. Unlike Sakura, who was well enough in this position to master the art of deception, Kaho, from the lack of training, had everything—thoughts, feelings, emotions—written on her face like a book.

Like for example, right now, Sakura merely stared at Kaho whose face was swelling every minute. Her eyes were darting from here to there and her lips were put up in a conservative frown.

" Well? Sakura said impatiently.

" Sakura…I am so sorry…I guess I—I should have told—listen, there is a prophecy about the Lord…except it isn't like anything I have ever read before…I don't know but there were strange things in the prophecy that, well, it makes me wonder if—" Kaho suddenly stopped.

Sakura knew why. The uneasy feeling that she was being watched was now stronger than ever. But now, Kaho could sense it too. Sakura guessed being a slayer once, helped now.

" Sakura—" Kaho began.

"—I know, Kaho…it's coming…we should—" Sakura's mouth went dry, and her body, for the first time-somehow, her body felt vulnerable. If Sakura thought someone was watching them, she was most certainly wrong. Someone wasn't watching them, whoever it was, was watching—_her_ and her only.

Sakura readied her body into attack mode as her hands automatically reached for her stakes. Her stomach sank into an icy and bottomless hole. The stakes weren't there. Well, one of them was, the other wasn't. Sakura mentally kicked herself for that. How could she have forgotten such an important weapon? Her mind recalled back to the events of the moments before she went out on her patrol. It probably dropped when she executed that high kick. She couldn't quite remember the reason behind not properly zipping the side-pocketed belts. What did it matter now? Her mind jerked back to reality as she found herself running.

" Wait, Kaho…why are we running?" Sakura asked all of a sudden.

They stopped. The ground suddenly began shaking. What the hell? She exchanged horrified glances with Kaho. Something was coming from below them. The ground continued to shake as trees began swaying and the gravestones that they were passing began to sink. A hand dug out of the ground and that same action multiplied as more hands began coming out. Vampires…not exactly good but not quite bad. Sakura smirked. Life-eaters were much stronger than vampires. She took out her single stake as Kaho took out holy water and a huge stake from God-knows-where.

Sakura lunged first as she flipped and did a powerful 360 degrees kick and dusted ten vampires with one slash. But the problem was that more were coming out—an action that Sakura wasn't used to. Life-Eaters hardly did that…Kaho looked at her realizing they were outnumbered.

" We need to ditch…" Kaho said flatly and they ran, the vampires at their heels, " the vampires are pretty strong for their usual amount of power and they're a lot of them…that hardly happens…unless of course they're—_summoned_…of course…"

"Er…Kaho…you mind letting me in on your secret…" Sakura said as they ran past the dark alleys of Tokyo.

" Yeah, see…humans…all die at different times. It is not possible for vampires to sire at the same time unless they are summoned by Vampire Kings…but this wasn't a work of a king because a king's vampires are very weak…it had to be someone stronger than that…" Kaho stopped speaking and slowed down as they entered a more isolated part of the city.

" And? Who do you think it is?" Sakura asked wanting to badly fight someone.

" Well, I don't know…I mean you hear a Life-Eater speak in fear of the Night lord and well, Life eaters are pretty strong…so if they are scared of the Night Lord…then it makes me wonder just how powerful he is…and now this strange summoning all of a sudden and mind you…just before the vampires attacked…we both sensed someone watching us…and well, I don't know…let's just…"

Sakura unexpectedly felt very drowsy and faint, which was strange since her job didn't require that. There was a strange familiar sensation in herself—a sense of familiarity that seemed to build up every time the Night Lord's name was spoken…it was strange since she barely even knew the guy.

Sakura looked over at Kaho whose mouth was hanging open…about five to six Life-Eaters were standing there smirking. Sakura groaned. This was not her day.

" That's it…I have had enough of you guys…" Sakura yelled as she lunged for them…but Kaho interjected.

" No! I'll handle them…you look sort of weak to me…you run and I 'll—"

" No! Kaho, I can do—"

" No, you can't…you can't" Kaho said urgently.

Sakura nodded and with the weak assurance that Kaho would survive, Sakura ran through all the shortcuts of Tokyo.

After a few minutes, she stopped running gasping for breath. Sakura smiled. That was a good run, but as the reason for the run came back, the smile went back to the frown it always was. She should've never left Kaho there alone. Sakura punched the air in the alley bitterly. She had to go back there.

Kaho was her lifetime friend. Sakura couldn't bear to think what would ensue if any harm came to her Watcher.

Sakura tightened her fists until they were white. She walked towards the entrance of the alley in order to get out when suddenly…she stopped and wheeled about. Sakura's eyes widened. There was that feeling again. There were sudden footsteps, light and graceful promising yielding strength and danger. Sakura stepped back. Something was coming from the shadows. She tried to sense but whatever it was, possessed strong spiritual and magical powers too as its aura was blocked.

Sakura had a foreign feeling inside of her and before soon, she realized that she was scared. No one had been able to block out her powers and it scared her that this being could. The footsteps stopped.

" Who are you?" Sakura asked calmly. She was slightly panicked but that creature didn't need to know that.

There was no answer, only a mysterious wind howled around the alley smoothly going against Sakura's body. Sakura's grasp tightened around her one stake and Sakura was about to lung when she suddenly realized that it was not there.

And before she could do anything, strong arms encompassed her waist. It was nothing but sheer instinct that allowed Sakura to make her next move. She kicked both her legs high up in the air, staggering the arms and soon had done a strong flip and landed right in front of the dark figure.

" You have grown stronger than the last time, I have met you-" a deep, mature voice said amusedly.

Sakura's whole body felt like it was covered by ice. That voice! She had heard it before. Common sense told her that she had never met this guy before but something told her that the voice was unerringly familiar. But Sakura couldn't quite see him.

The clouds, which had covered the sky, had opened revealing a slice of the moon. The moonlight showered from that single slice, but that was enough. Sakura had seen the face of the eerie figure. Her eyes had widened again and her body felt like it had sunk even lower in the ice. Her lips became very dry and for the first time, her body was uselessly numb and paralyzed. Somehow, the sight was vaguely familiar.

The man was devastating in looks. He had rebellious chocolate-colored manes and his eyes were a ocher colour that pierced through Sakura's very soul. He was now wearing a black casual shirt that had a few buttons open revealing his gorgeously muscled torso. He work brown pants that hugged his legs and on top of that was a long trench overcoat. That man was now smirking and Sakura had a shrewd idea of who it was.

The man approached her. Sakura was frozen—an action that was rare. The only time she had been frozen was that night when her parents had been killed. The man came closer and closer until his body was so close to her own that Sakura felt as though her body would burst. The man bent his upper body lower for his face to reach her neck. Sakura silently gasped. He was a vampire. Great, now her reputation had gone even lower. What would people say if they found out that a _vampire_ killed the Great Eradicator?

Sakura closed her eyes. She was going to be killed. Her mother had once told her that when someone was about to die, they could see their whole lives pass by them. Strange, Sakura couldn't see anything except the man's annoyingly gorgeous face. The man's hands encircled her waist and before soon, his face was at her neck. Sakura bit her lip. She was going to die…she couldn't believe it…she was going to die. She was going to miss so many people, her cousin, her—

Something was damp on her neck. She let out a small gasp. The man wasn't feeding on her-he was _kissing_ her. The man put feathery kisses on her neck and licked it with his tongue sometimes nibbling it, but certainly not _biting_ it. Sakura's body now burned. She had to get away from this man before more surprises popped out.

Sakura kneed him and pinned him towards an alley wall in a swift motion.

" Who the hell are you?" Sakura asked angrily.

In the moonlight, Sakura's face could be seen too…and her skimpy though highly stretchy battle gear. There was a flicker of recognition in the man's eyes but he smirked like never before.

" What happened, little vixen…scared?" He asked amused.

Sakura felt angry and in that one moment she let her guard down in anger that gave the man enough time to have the tables turned and pin her down. The man whispered in her ears.

" I—_am_—_Syaoran_!" he hissed and in that one swift motion, he bent down and kissed Sakura on her lips. It was a cruel kiss and not a sweet one either.

A pain, shot through her like lightening and Sakura suddenly saw visions. A woman…the man…the gleaming knife…a terrifying scream…a raging fire…someone whispering, "Kill Her!"… a knife touching flesh…a final scream…blood—the woman's blood…her face could not be seen…a cruel and high-pitched laugh—

_Come out of it, Sakura…you don't have to watch this…_a cool, and deep voice spoke.

Sakura opened her eyes and gasped opening her mouth, letting the man, Syaoran's tongue into her mouth as it roamed around tasting her freely. This man—he killed the woman…he was the man she kept dreaming about…

Sakura growled and with all her might pushed Syaoran to break the kiss.

" I am going to give you thirty seconds to run fast before you are dead…" Sakura said with cold fury.

" Thirty seconds…don't flatter yourself, Sakura…" Syaoran said.

Sakura froze. How the hell did he know her name? The dark world didn't know her by her birth name. So how—

Sakura pushed these distracting thoughts out of her head and lunged for Syaoran doing a fantastic performance of punch and block with some high kicks that Syaoran gracefully blocked. Sakura noticed that Syaoran only blocked attacks, never attacked her.

" You don't remember me?" Syaoran said sneering as he finally punched and Sakura blocked.

" Are you the—"

" –I _am_ the Night Lord …but you are supposed to be the Eradicator…you don't look very calm…in fact you look like a lost bitch…"

Sakura did a 90-spin kick almost thrashing Syaoran's face…almost…

This guy seemed to know her every move. Sakura punched him and only managed to find air. She kicked and the same results occurred. This guy knew her weakness…almost as if—_clunk!_

Something fell on the ground. Sakura turned around and looked. It was her stake—her _only_ stake on the ground a few feet away. Great, Sakura thought, how am I supposed to fight him now? There was only one thing to do. She had to run and Sakura prayed Syaoran hadn't seen the fallen stake. Sakura dashed for it and in an instant found herself on the ground touching the stake yet there was someone's foot on it.

Syaoran ushered her up taking her by the chin. Sakura didn't have time. She did a narrow flip and grabbed the stake readying it straight for the heart.

She had almost made it too…when a searing pain shot up through her body. Sakura did not know what it was. She did not know where her body began or ended. All she knew was that her body felt like a thousand hot knives were stabbing it.

" Why did you stop?" whispered Syaoran seductively.

Sakura dropped on her knees. The pain was so intense, Sakura was surprised she was still breathing. Her nerves were on fire.

" What the hell did you do?" Sakura whispered back through gritted teeth.

" Gienalum—the greatest witch to live—she did the spell…you cannot hurt me…_otherwise_…" Syaoran laughed.

" Alright…so now no one can hurt you…big deal, I will find—" Syaoran put his pointing finger on Sakura's lips to stop her from speaking.

" You do not understand me…" he said smoothly, "…I did not say no one can hurt me…I said _you_ cannot hurt me…it is still the same because the only one powerful enough to kill me…can't…" Syaoran laughed pleasantly.

Sakura couldn't find anything very funny in the matter, so she remained silent. Syaoran walked towards the shadows and looked back at Sakura, his ocher eyes staring so passively. He left and disappeared into the shadows.

Sakura stood there perplexed for quite sometime before regaining her composure. That guy was seriously weird.

" Syaoran huh?" Tomoyo said staring at Sakura that night at one fifteen a.m. In fact, everyone in the living room was staring at her.

" What?" Sakura asked.

Kaho, who looked very worn-out from killing vampires, cleared her throat, " well, I know who he is…Syaoran Li…he _is_ the Night Lord…"

" Yeah, I know…I don't care…" Sakura said not caring.

" You should…" Rika said with the three triplets in agreement nodding their heads.

" Why?" Sakura said still exhausted.

" Because…" Kaho said biting her lip, "…he was said to have loved an Eradicator one thousand years ago…"

" But there is only one—"

" You could be her reincarnation, Sakura…" Nikki said, " you could be…"

Sakura sat there looking as baffled as ever.


End file.
